CALLS EQUALITY "A VICTORY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE" Democratic New Hampshire Governor John Lynch.

Much of New England joined the march toward marriage equality this year, but in the comparably conservative Granite State, its legalization has heated up a partisan battle for control of the governorship in 2010, promising that this political war isn't quite over.

On June 3, Governor John Lynch — a middle-of-the-road Democrat who said he was against same-sex marriage during his campaigns — signed the law giving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry in the Granite State starting January 1, calling it "a victory for all the people of New Hampshire."

The law was also a victory for New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley, a longtime politician and founding member of New Hampshire Citizens for Gay and Lesbian Rights, a pro-marriage activist group. "The Granite State has long been a place where individual freedom has been revered and upheld, and today Governor Lynch and legislative leaders affirmed our state's values by voting to recognize all citizens as equal under the law," he said in a statement at the time.

Leading the opposition was Cornerstone Policy Research (CPR), a Manchester-based conservative, family-focused think tank with a mission of "preserving and strengthening the institution of marriage."

"In New Hampshire, it was no secret that the Human Rights Campaign dumped a lot of money into the state," says Kevin Smith, executive director of CPR's legislative action group, also noting the effect of issue-advocacy groups (also called "527 groups" after the section of the US tax code under which they are established) set up by Colorado multi-millionaire Tim Gill and targeted fundraising by Democratic leaders. "[Buckley] is getting money into the state for those issues. We're combating that. That certainly helps them, but I think at the end of the day it comes down to the people of New Hampshire and the direction they want to go in."

Among the organizations linked on the CPR Web site are the non-profit Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), which says on its site that it helps people "make the personal decision to leave homosexuality" and Exodus International, a similar group that does not recognize homosexuality as a "valid orientation."

While CPR's views on homosexuality are far from mainstream, CPR-Action emerged as a political force this year, attacking Lynch for flip-flopping in two May television ads and a number of press releases as the legislation volleyed around the State House. But after the bill passed on June 3, the group appeared to dropped the issue.

In a recent phone interview, Smith says that isn't the case — New Hampshire's laws just require patience and effort to repeal. He claims that CPR's most recent telephone poll, which reached 50,000 households, found that 64 percent wished to uphold the definition of traditional marriage; these people aren't anti-gay "hate-mongers," he stresses, saying they deserve a voice.

Winning marriage in Maine Three years ago, after winning non-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, we began a journey to win protections for LGBT families. We knew our best chance for winning marriage was through the Legislature and that once we passed a bill, we would have to defend it at the polls.

Crossing the line When an increasingly conservative newspaper company fires an already publicly conservative employee for apparently offending a liberal interest group, it leaves some people scratching their heads.

Continuing homophobia Deirdre Fulton's and Shay Stewart-Bouley's comments and Seth Berner's letter on the Marriage Equality Act repeal are insightful. I would add another perspective.

Fair Share? On September 10, Boston City Councilor David Scondras wrote a letter to the city’s group-health-insurance director. “We have a non-discrimination policy in this city which includes people who are gay and lesbian,” wrote the city’s first openly gay city councilor.

State House status Rhode Island voters, for all their supposed insularity, are an increasingly progressive bunch.

Just the beginning More than a few people asked us why we are publishing this special section now — now that gay-marriage opponents have filed their People's Veto signatures, now that same-sex marriages will not be taking place at least until after Mainers vote on the issue on November 3.

Numbers game If you take a close look at the latest polls, you will find that supporters and opponents of November's same-sex marriage referendum question are locked in a neck-and-neck battle.

After the Question 1 vote Last Tuesday, Maine became the 31st state to put same-sex marriage to a public vote — and to have it lose.

Saying their ‘I don’ts’ In case it slipped by one or two of you out there, Maine is a pretty homogenized state overall, even more so than a carton of Oakhurst or Hood milk.